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Saturday, 26 February 2011

Donald in Maui Mallard (SNES)

Also known as Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow in the US.

Oh crap, ANOTHER Donald Duck game? This time he's dressed up as Magnum PI it seems.

Wow that is really annoying. This swoosh effect happens every single time you turn around and it takes just slightly longer than you'd ever want it to. In fact all of this guy's movements are just a little too sluggish. Nice graphics though.

A half second later I run into a wall. I try jumping at it, running at it, shooting it, crawling through it. Nothing seems to work. Seems like I'm done with this game then I think, turning around and falling into a bookcase in the background. They probably could have made that a bit more obvious.

Holy shit this is no plunger gun! This thing tears your body apart and evaporates your soul. THAT is the kind of effect I like to see from my weapons, and I haven't even upgraded yet.

Yes, make the pickups look like little black bugs on a level full of little enemy black bugs that can crawl on walls. I'm sure that won't get confusing at all. It's opened up now, but when that thing is closed it looks like that icon on the top right.

These jumps aren't too difficult, but it's easy enough to slip off and fall all the way back down again. But hey, it's a platformer, what was I expecting?

Okay this isn't funny! Let me up this ledge!! I'm being shot at constantly by a dart machine and I can't get up this ledge!!! There's no running jump, or double jump, or grappling line.

OH I SEE! You use the yellow floor panels to move the little dart firing statue across and jump onto it to get up. Pretty cunning... it's just a shame I'm being shot while I'm doing this.

This butler serves you evil bugs. I didn't want to seem ungrateful, so I repaid him by blasting his mortal frame apart and shattering his soul. Just look at where my character is placed here, the screen actually scrolls so you can see MORE of what's in front of you as you move around.

Top tip: Don't spin your gun around when the safety is off.

I hate trying to jump across these things. I always seem to land on them at the wrong point and just fall through. Also they don't look like something you want to be jumping anywhere near, so my instinct was to avoid them at first.

AGH it's a boss! A big metal beetle which fires out infinite mini beetles! Also the legs look like bones! Also it has a duck face on it!

I soon dealt with the boss using a tactical manoeuvre involving hammering the fire button and jumping up and down, and moved on to the bonus round.

Damn those are some smug stars.

Damn that's a creepy moon.

Wait, password not attained? What the fuck, I have to win the bonus round to get a level password? Son of a bitch!

Okay level two and WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?

I've been upgraded! Now I can switch between this melee outfit and my original outfit. Shame this stick doesn't seem to be a very good weapon.

To be honest, this is maybe the best platformer I've played yet on this blog. It's well made, easy to control, well animated, it doesn't seem to have any cheap deaths. Plus it has a soundtrack by Michael (Lost, The Incredibles, Star Trek) Giacchino. If you like platformers and want to play something from this blog, this would probably be the one to go for.

One of my favorite games ever. Sure, the physics and controls could be slightly better but other than that I always wonder why it's never mentioned alongside Castle of Illusion and Quackshot. Hell, even Mickey Mania (accidentally mr. Giacchino's previous score) gets more recognition that this. The Mega Drive version actually has different level design and slightly different controls.

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The Rules

1. I must not use cheats, save states, trainers, hacking devices etc. to progress through the game. I play the game as it is and if I can't get any further then I quit. (Or run off to check a walkthrough.)

2. I must not read the manual before playing or play fan translations. I like to figure things out for myself and it's more amusing if I don't know what I'm doing.

3. I must not complete the games. I'm trying to take a quick look at interesting games, retro classics and obscure crap, show what they're like and show off the art, not make full 'Let's Play' playthroughs or reviews.

4. You must not read these posts if you're concerned about -- spoilers --.I may discuss the story and show screenshots of cutscenes and dialogue. But I try to make sure I'm only spoiling the game that I'm playing.